신제품 개발 프로세스에서 Fuzzy front-end 집중도가 중소기업의 혁신성과에 미치는 영향: 신제품 개발 속도에 따른 차이

In an era characterized by rapid technological innovation and increased uncertainty, companies must efficiently develop new products through accelerated new product development processes. Consequently, the activities within the Fuzzy Front-End (FFE) phase have garnered attention as a means to mitigate uncertainty and expedite development. FFE activities have been identified as crucial for influencing the speed and success of new product development from the initial opportunity identification to the pre-official development stages. Despite the growing interest in FFE, empirical studies remain limited due to data constraints, particularly concerning the relationship between FFE and the speed of new product development. Specifically, while there are claims that activities in the FFE stage help accelerate the speed of new product development, research on the optimal amount of time investment in the FFE stage remains insufficient. This study aims to empirically analyze the relationship between time investment in the FFE stage and innovation performance among domestic SMEs, and to determine whether this relationship varies with the speed of new product development. The analysis reveals that FFE concentration does not significantly impact overall innovation performance. In addition, this study examines whether the relationship between FFE time investment and innovation performance varies according to the speed of new product development. This analysis is based on the view that the appropriate time to invest in the FFE stage depends on the specific activities targeted by the company. To achieve this, companies were divided into two groups: those with new product development speeds faster than the industry average and those with slower development speeds. For companies that develop new products faster than the industry average, a higher concentration in the FFE stage correlates with better innovation performance. Conversely, for companies with slower development speeds, reduced FFE concentration is associated with improved innovation performance. These findings suggest that for high-speed developers, investing substantial time in the FFE stage helps to reduce uncertainty. In contrast, for slower developers, it may be more advantageous to allocate resources to later stages, such as marketing and promotion, given the availability of related knowledge. This study is significant as it empirically validates the relationship between FFE concentration and innovation performance, providing specific insights into optimal time investment in the FFE stage based on SME characteristics.